


Golden Lights and Perfect Games

by WingedFlight



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bowling AU, F/M, storytime with trufflehunter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21641863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingedFlight/pseuds/WingedFlight
Summary: The Narnia Bowling Alley was never right except when a league member was in charge.
Relationships: Caspian/Lucy Pevensie
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18
Collections: Lucian Exchange 2019





	Golden Lights and Perfect Games

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RecklesslyAngelic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RecklesslyAngelic/gifts).



Well, I'm right pleased to be meeting you, Jill. You can call me Hunter, same as everyone else around here. If you don't mind me saying, you look a bit on the outs with this group of yours. Friends? Ah, schoolmates. 

Take a seat, don't be shy. 

Old Glen Storm there, he does the horoscopes, that’s what he’s known for. But me? I’m the one who remembers. Mind like a badger, I’ve got. Isn’t that the saying? Eh, you know what I mean. I know all the stories of this place, from when the Narnia Bowling Alley first opened (way back when all the stars came and sang on that stage over there). And when we were bought out by that Ice Bitch--god, she was cold, that one. Or the days after, when the Pevensies lit up the place with golden lights and bowled perfect games like you wouldn't believe. Hoo-ee, those were the days. 

What were they like? Well, damn girl. Ask any person in this room and you'll hear a different answer.  _ Powerful. Clever. The sharpest strikers you've ever come across. Kind. _ Never discount the importance of kindness.  _ Malcontents and complainers _ is what my buddy TK always said, but that just means he liked them.

You wanna see a picture? Go on over there to the wall, that big frame one on the far right--that's it, that's the four after their first championship win, right here at lane five. We still got the plaque from it, too. And that cluster of pictures to the left? You'll find the Pevensies in almost all of them. Seems like they were always here, in those days. 

Yes, that one right there was taken much more recently. Just last year, it was. That was when everything came to a head against the Telmar Corporation that was running the place at the time. Real tyrants, they were. Not as bad as the Bitch but... well. This place was never right but when a true and proper league member was in charge.

You hadn't heard of all that, either? The whole--well, have I a story for you.

See, the Pevensies hadn't been bowling at our lanes in years. They'd had their glory days but the father got a job in America and off they moved. Let me tell you, the place seemed a lot quieter once they were gone. Like the life had gone with them. And it wasn't long after that things started going downhill--blame the economy if you will, but I say it was the Telmar Corp. Bought the place, tried to commercialize it and took that special shine right out. Even tried to boot us old-timers, the regulars who congregate here for the socializing rather than the bowling itself. They said if we weren't actively bowling, we'd have to leave. And well, we sure didn't like that. Been coming here since before that manager Mr. Miraz had even been born, some of us. 

But his nephew? Ah, his nephew understood. He actually listened when we tried to share our stories. He knew the Alley used to be better, and he started to dream about returning it to its former glory. Always was a dreamer, that boy. He had the same expression on his face that you do whenever he looked up at our wall of fame, at all those photos of the old days. A starry-eyed, wistful look.  _ Caspian, _ I'd tell him,  _ you're a lovesick fool. _ And he'd blush like mad. But I didn't tease him too hard. Who isn't dazzled by those reminders of the old days? Like looking at the sun.

There was one photo he was especially captivated by. It was a birthday celebration for young Lucy Pevensie. She’s the one in the center, her face lit by the candles of the cake in front of her. Nearly everyone made it here for the day--yes, that’s me there in the back. And what a day it had been. I’d catch Caspian staring at the photo but not really looking at it, if you know what I mean? I think he was imagining himself there. 

Well, a fellow can only watch this for so long before taking action.  _ You know, boy, _ I told him at last,  _ If you gave that girl a ring on the horn, I’d bet she’d come by again for old time’s sake. _ And he went about blushing all over again and stammering all the reasons he couldn’t do that. Except he must’ve later because only a few days passed before Lucy Pevensie herself strolled right back into the Alley. 

She was older, of course, but sure hadn’t lost that wild shine. The whole place seemed to come back to life as soon as she walked in through the front door. And Caspian, he was minding the shoe counter at the time, and just froze as soon as he saw her. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes, I swear, had turned into hearts. 

‘Course, she greeted all us old friends straight away and it was like she’d never even left. And finally, she returned to the front counter where Caspian was doing his best to hide away, and introduced herself properly. Poor boy stammered out some sort of greeting and asked her if she needed a pair of shoes. 

Now, it was the second Wednesday of the month which meant it was eighties night, which I remember because right then and there the song changed. And what should play? The theme from the Love Boat! You know that show? Ah, you’re too young.  _ Love, exciting and new… come aboard, we’re expecting you… It’s the Love Boat!  _ Something like that. And wouldn’t you know it, but that boy starts blushing all over again. 

He got over his shyness eventually. Came out from behind the counter, even bowled a few games with Lucy and some others. Didn’t do too shabby either, though no one’s a match for a Pevensie. Eventually the night started to wind down, the Alley began to empty, and I realized after a time that neither Lucy nor Caspian were anywhere to be found. If you catch my meaning. 

Didn’t take long after that for things to be set right around the place. Lucy had moved back to England, you see, and she started popping in more and more often--usually on the nights Caspian had a shift. Her siblings all had lives of their own, but they stopped by once or twice as well. Mr. Miraz wasn’t happy about it; he thought they were stirring up trouble, and I guess you could say he wasn’t too far from the truth: the Pevensies had brought back a sense of the Alley’s best days and no one was keen to let that go. So we drafted up some papers--Edmund Pevensie’s a lawyer now, so he helped us out a fair bit--and with a bit of perseverance managed to help Caspian buy the place back from the Telmar Corp and kick his uncle to the curb. 

Ah yes, that’s him over there. Manning the shoe counter as usual. And--yes, you’ve guessed it. The woman chatting over by the lanes is Lucy Pevensie herself. They run the place together now, and aren’t we all glad of it. Her siblings still come by for a visit occasionally, if not as often as we’d like. Although… well, he’s a strange one, but their cousin comes by regularly enough. He isn’t into the bowling, just sits in a corner reading books about dinosaurs. Strange boy indeed, but might be he just needs a friend. 

Well, if there’s any place he’ll find one as strange as him, I’d say it’s here. 

You want to go meet him? Could be you have something in common, more than you’d find in an old rambling man such as myself. Though fair warning, he might come across as a bit tetchy. There you go… 

_ Love Boat soon will be making another run… Love Boat promises something for everyone…  _ Dagnabbit, that’s gonna be stuck in my head all night now.  _ It’s the Love Boat…  _


End file.
